Electrically actuated burglar alarm and circuit closer therefor



Nov. 13, 1956 I T. .1. SANDERS 2,770,690

ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED BURGLAR ALARM AND CIRCUIT CLOSER THEREFOR FiledJuly 10, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm. ll.

INVBNTOR. illluonzlSanders,

m myzm Nov. 13, 1956 'r. J. SANDERS 2,770,690

ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED BURGLAR ALARM AND CIRCUIT CLOSER THEREFOR FiledJuly 10, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 jig-2. /5

60 50 I fill x 51 mm mman S -6 ATTORNEYS Nov. 13, 1956 T. J. SANDERSELECTRICALLY ACTUATED BURGLAR ALARM AND CIRCUIT CLOSER THEREFOR 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 10, 1955 EMIQQK l wi. umau INVENTOR- TillmanJISanders,

United States Patent 1 ELECTRICALLY ACTUAT ED BURGLAR ALARM AND CIRCUITCLOSER THEREFOR Tillmon J. Sanders, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application July 10, 1953, Serial No. 367,203

2 Claims. (Cl. 20061.61)

This invention relates to a burglar alarm, and more particularly to anelectrically actuated burglar alarm.

The object of the invention is to provide a burglar alarm which will beautomatically actuated when a person wrongfully or without authorityattempts to take money or other valuables from a suitable apartment orhousing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burglar alarm whichincludes means for testing the circuit to insure that all of the partsare in working order, the burglar alarm including a control mechanismand an alarm mechanism, the control mechanism adapted to be locatedwithin a suitable building while the alarm mechanism may be arrangedexteriorly of the building to notify police or other persons that arobbery is being perpetrated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burglar alarm which isextremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and inwhich like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout thesame:

Figure l is a perspective view of the burglar alarm, constructedaccording to the present invention, and with parts broken away and insection.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the controlmechanism.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the alarm mechanism showing thedoor open as when the device has been actuated by a burglar, and withparts broken away and in section.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a schematic view showing the wiring diagram for the burglaralarm of the present invention.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates abuilding which may be a bank, store, or other structure, and a counteror platform 11 may be arranged within the building 10, Figure l. Apartition 12 may extend upward from the counter 11, and the partition 12may be provided with cut-outs 14 whereby currency and the like can bereadily passed therethrough when a bank cashier is dealing withcustomers or depositors or the like.

The present invention is directed to a burglar alarm whereby in theevent that a person attempts to rob the money or other valuablescontained in a housing 15, an alarm mechanism 16 will be actuated tothereby notify police or other persons so that an arrest can be made.The alarm mechanism 16 may be secured outside of the building 10 by asuitable bracket 17, and the housing may be arranged within the buildingand can be supported on posts 18.

The control mechanism 15 is shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4 andthis control mechanism includes a housing that may be made of anysuitable material, the housing including a front wall 19 and a rear wall20. A horizontally disposed bottom wall 13 can be provided for thehousing. Hingedly connected to the housing is a cover or lid 21, and thecover 21 can be pivoted by means of compartment 24.

ing 15 includes a plurality of compartments 24 which are the hinge 22 sothat the cover 21 can be opened and left open during normal workinghours when valuables such as currency 30 are being removed and replacedfrom the It will be seen that the control hous- :ili cess or cut-out 28which defines a shoulder 32 in its lower portion, and the currency 30 isadapted to be wedged between the free end or rear end of the shelf 31and the shoulder 32.

Extending longitudinally below each compartment 24 is an angle iron orbar 33 which has a conventional micro-switch 34 secured thereto as byscrews 43. A pair of contacts 35 and 36 may depend from the bottom ofeach of the micro-switches 34, and electric Wires 37 and 38 areelectrically connected to the contacts 35 and 36 for a purpose to belater described. A spring arm 39 has one end pivotally connected to thetop of the microswitch 34 by a pin 42, and the spring arm 39 is adaptedto abut or engage a push button 41 which controls actuation of themicro-switch 34. A contact 40 is carried by the free end of the springarm 39, and the contact 40 engages the lower surface of each of theshelves 31. The angle irons 33 may be secured to the bottom of theplates 25 and 26 by screws 46. Extending across the top of the angleirons 33 is a bar 44 which provides a support for a plurality of springmembers 45 which engage the lower surface of the shelves 31. The springmembers 45 tend to normally urge the shelves 31 in a counterclockwisedirection, Figure 3, so that in the event the currency 30 is stolen orremoved without authority from the compartment 24, a space will beprovided between the shelves 31 and the shoulder 32 to permit the springmembers 45 to urge the shelves 31 upwardly whereby the spring arm 39will move in a clockwise direction, so that the microswitch 34 will beactuated whereby the alarm mechanism 16 will be energized to notifypolice or other persons that a robbery is being made.

The alarm mechanism 16 arranged outside the building 10 includes acasing that comprises a front wall 47 which is provided with a cut-outor window 48. A piece of colored glass 49 which may be red in order toenhance or make more noticeable the light in the casing provided, andthe glass 49 is arranged contiguous to the opening 48. A door 50 ishingedly connected to the casing by means of a hinge 51, and the door 50is mounted for movement into and out of closing relation with respect tothe opening 48. As later described in this application, when the robberytakes place, that is when the currency 30 is removed from thecompartment without authority and with the circuit in operatingcondition, the door 50 will be automatically opened and at the same timeflashing lights and sirens or other sounding devices within the casingwill be actuated to thereby notify police or other persons of therobbery. For normally urging the door 50 to its open position, a coilspring 52 is provided, and the coil spring 52 has one end connected to abracket 53 mounted on top of the alarm device, the other end of the coilspring 52 being connected to a bracket 54 which is secured to the door50. A latch means is provided for normally maintaining the door 50 inits locked or closed position, and this latch means includes a solenoid55 which has a movable core 56 mounted therein. Arms 58 are pivotallymounted on a pin 57, and the arms 58 are connected to the movable core56, the arms 58 adapted to actuate a catch or keeper 59. The keeper 59is mounted for movement into and out of engagement with a locking member60 which is mounted on the door 50. Thus, normally the latch 59 willengage the locking member 60 to maintain the door 50 closed, but whenthe micro-switch 34 is actuated as when a person attempts to take moneyfrom the compartments, then the solenoid 55 will be automaticallyactuated to pivot the keeper 59 so that the spring 52 can pull the dooropen as shown in Figure 6 and in Figure 5. A spring member 61 is connected to the arm 58.

Arranged within the alarm mechanism 16 is a plurality of soundingdevices which may be sirens 62 and the sirens 62 may be electricallyactuated. A reflector 63 may be arranged contiguous to a bulb 64 whichmay remain lit at all times so as to help illuminate the red glass 49which may have the word police written thereon or printed thereon asshown in Figure 5. Also, the word police may be printed on the inside ofthe door 50 so that when the door 50 swings open, as shown in Figure 5,an additional warning will be issued. A transformer 65 may beelectrically connected in the system, and fuses 66 may aiso be provided.A bulb is provided in the alarm mechanism 16, and the bulb 67 may becontinuously and quickly flashed on and off by means of a flasher button68 to give an effective alarm.

A means is provided for testing the electrical circuit to ascertainWhether the system is in proper working order. This means comprises abell or sounding device 71 which is electrically connected to atransformer '72. A plug 70 is connected to a lead wire 69, and the plug70 may be connected to any suitable source of electrical energy. Amanually operable switch 73 is provided for controlling the supply ofcurrent to the micro-switches 34 and to the alarm mechanism 1 .6, and asuitable switch 74 is provided for use when the testing circuit is to beutilized.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a burglar alarm has been Frovidedwhich will immediately produce a sound and give an illuminated warningin the event that a burglar attempts to steal money or other valuablesfrom the device 15. The control device 15 may be located in a bank orother place and currency 30 may be positioned therein as shown in Figure3. When the circuit is to be tested, the switch '74 is closed and if thecircuit is in good working order the bell 71 will be actuated so thatthe person testing the apparatus will hear the bell 71. After it hasbeen determined that the system is in operative condition, the switch 74is opened and the switch 73 is closed. Then, in the event that thecurrency 30 is removed without authority from the compartments 24, theshelf or shelves 31 will be pivoted in a counter-clockwise direction bymeans of the spring members 45 since there will be a space left betweenthe free end of the shelf 31 and the shoulder .32. Then, when thecurrency 30 is removed, that is after the cover 21 has been raised, theelectric circuit leading to the alarm device 16 will be completed sincethe arms 39 will pivot to energize the micro-switches 34. When thecircuit is completed by the robber to the alarm device 16, the bulb 67Will continuously flash on and off, and the sirens 62 will be actuatedso that the police or passerbys will be warned of the 4 robbery. At thesame time the solenoid 55 will be actuated so that the core 56 will moveto release the keeper 59 from the locking member 60 so that the spring52 will pull open the door 50 to permit police or other persons to seethe warning sign indicating the presence of the robber.

A plurality of the compartments 24 are provided and the burglar alarm ofthe present invention can be used in any suitable location such as abank, ofiice, storage building or store. If desired, a suitable chemicalspray can be released Within the building so as to neutralize ortemporarily knock out the burglar.

I claim:

1. In a burglar alarm, a control mechanism adapted to be mounted withina building and comprising a housing, a cover hingedly connected to saidhousing,. a plurality of partitions arranged in said housing anddefining compartments therein for holding valuables, a front and rearplate mounted in said housing, a plurality of shelves pivotallyconnected to said front plate, said shelves providing the bottom of saidcompartments, the lower inner portion of said rear plate being cut awayto provide a shoulder, said shoulder and shelves adapted to receivetherebetween currency, angle irons positioned below each of saidshelves, a micro-switch secured to each of said angle irons andincluding a contact arm engaging the bottom of said shelves, and springmembers for urging said shelves upwardly when the currency or othervaluables are removed therefrom.

2. A burglar alarm comprising a control mechanism adapted to be mountedwithin a building and comprising a housing, said housing including afront wall and a rear Wall and a horizontally disposed bottom wall, acover hingedly connected to said housing, a plurality of spaced parallelpartitions arranged in said housing and defining compartments thereinfor holding valuables, a front and rear plate mounted in said housing, aplurality of shelves pivotally connected to said front plate, said frontplate "being provided with a cutout for receiving an end of a shelf,said shelves providing the bottom of said compartments, the lower innerportion of said rear plate being cut away to provide a shoulder, saidshoulder and shelves adapted to receive therebetween currency, angleirons positioned below each of said shelves and extending longitudinallythcrebelow, a micro-switch secured to each of the angle irons, a springarm having one end pivotally connected to the top of said micro-switch,a push button engaged by said spring arm, a contact carried by the freeend of said spring arm for engaging the lower surface of a shelf, a pairof contacts depending from the bottom of each of said micro-switches,and spring members mounted on said angle irons for urging said shelvesupwardly when the currency or other valuables are removed withoutauthority from said compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

